The Underworlds

Is That An Elf?

Chapter 14 - Is That An Elf?

Mia's POV

Where am I? The last thing I remember was crumbling to the ground, holding my head and screaming bloody mary. Now I am here, in a gruesome looking place. I looked up to the sky to find a perfect crescent moon, only one cloud hung in the sky and it was hovering just under the moon. The sky was full of stars, but they didn't seem to hold as much light like the ones on Earth. The grass is green, but you can barely tell. The only light source in this place seems to be the moon, which didn't project much of it. Everywhere I looked it seemed like the greenery was dying. The trees are bare like they would look in the fall, but there are no leaves on the ground. Which tells me the trees have been like this for a while. It is rather frightening. Slowly I get up from the ground, dust myself off and decide which direction to try first. I notice a small light source deeper into the forest. I take a deep gulp and pray I make it out of this forest alive.

As I am walking towards the light source, the trees reveal something disturbing. If you look close enough to the trees, it almost seems like there are faces hidden within the bark. I feel something radiating from each tree, each one slightly different. It's as if creatures were killed and turned into these trees. As I continue, I try to stay away from the trees closest to the path, not to sure what will happen if I touch one. I wish I could just wake up and have this experience end up being one big dream, but life doesn't work that way. I've been walking for almost an hour, this light source has to be moving. I start to jog faster, hopefully able to keep up with whoever or whatever is in control of the light. I slow my pace down once I am close enough to see who it is. I think it is..elves? They are really short and have extremely pointed ears, so I am pretty sure they are elves.

The smallest of the three is holding a lantern, which was the light I was following for the last hour and a half.

"Hey Dugly. Shine the light over here, I think I found it." The tallest of the elves spoke. With how he presents himself, he seems to be the leader of this trio.

"Okay, okay, calm down, Sway." I heard Dugly Mumble the last part.

The tall one turned towards him, "What was that?"

Dugly straightened his back in fear, "N-nothing!"

"That's what I thought."

I don't particularly like that Saway guy, he seems rude. Keeping that in mind, I don't want to be on his bad side. I have no idea what powers elves have anyway and I don't plan on finding out the hard way. I don't even know Sway and I feel bad for him. He is one ugly fella. He has warts all over his body, one huge one on his left elbow. Dugly has some warts but not as bad as Sway. Because of how many warts are on Sways face and where they are he is stuck stuck with a mean scowl all the time.

I take a step forward, digging myself deeper into the bush I was hiding in. A twig snaps under my foot. Shit. I look up and hold my breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible and because of fear. A bead of sweat forms on my left temple.

"What was that?" Sway asks the other two elves.

"I don't know, it was probably the wind." A scared Dugly answers him.

"Whatever. I found what we needed. Let's head back to the kingdom."

"Yes sir!" Dugly says while saluting.

"Don't call me that!" Sway smacks Dugly upside the head. Dugly rubs his new injury, cowering in fear.

The trio of elves make their way through an underground passage, smack damn in the middle of the forest. I make sure to keep my distance to avoid being sensed by them. The entire way down the tunnel I had to plug my nose. Thanks to my hybrid nose, everything smells putrefied down here. There are huge spiders that like to swing from the top of the tunnel. Spider webs are coating the tunnel walls. Mice scurry around my feet. It takes everything for me not to scream and let the elves know I am here. I wouldn't be doing this if I had any other way. It was either follow these elves through the dark, gross tunnel, or stay lost in the forest with the hope of my friends finding me. The lantern's light grows bigger, until I realize it isn't the lantern, it's the end of the tunnel.